India to provide free education, healthcare for children orphaned by coronavirus

World

Published: 2021-05-30 13:23

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 08:19


India to provide free education, healthcare for children orphaned by coronavirus
India to provide free education, healthcare for children orphaned by coronavirus

India’s government announced Saturday that it will provide children who have lost both their parents to the coronavirus pandemic with free education and health insurance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration will use the PM Cares fund to create a corpus of one million rupees, which is around USD 13,805, per child when they turn 18.

Additionally, the fund will pay for school needs such as fees, uniforms and books. Once the children turn 18, they will receive a monthly stipend, and at the age of 23, the corpus will be given in a single payout.

The children will also be enrolled in the government’s health insurance program and premium will be paid via the PM Cares fund until they are 18.

In India, 27 percent of the population of 1.3 billion is under 14.

Earlier Saturday, the government announced further measures to help families that lost a member to COVID-19. The measures include providing a family pension and insurance to the dependents.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, India confirmed 27,894,800 cases and 325,998 deaths.